Re: 56J Motor, Recent Work & Lessons Learned

Posted by Joe Hall On 2013/12/1 18:06:40

The way I figured it out was: with engine off, used finger & thumb to rotate each pushrod. I noticed the ones that hardly rotated had considerable more drag than the ones that spun like tops. Then, removed and disassembled the rocker sets, and visually inspected each socket. Next, with all parts clean and dry, rotated a pushrod in each socket, while holding it up to my ear. I could hear and feel the drag on the sockets that were wore out, and could hear/feel nothing on the others. Further, on the worst ones, if the pushrod was shifted side to side while in the socket, it produced noticeable clicks, more felt than heard.

I attribute the above problems to simple wear & tear. After all, this motor has around 235,000 miles on it. The system design, that affords minimal oil to the top end also likely did not help. But big-4 stuff also fails, sometimes sooner than later.

Have had the Olds pump on this motor now for around 15,000 miles, and it oils the top end much better.